"Honest Reflections"

 

Mary Hernandez de Carl: CCL

By Gretchen Garrity

Trustee Mary Hernandez de Carl resigned from the Christian County Library District Board on June 30. Hernandez de Carl replaced former board president Allyson Tuckness, whose tenure became contentious when citizens were made aware of age-inappropriate and sexually-themed books found in the children’s and teens’ sections of the library.

When she first became involved with library activism, Hernandez de Carl put together a binder (which I briefly laid eyes on) that detailed some of the issues with books for minors. She spoke at board meetings and met with other citizens, eventually being appointed to fill Tuckness’ unexpired term. A former teacher and a homeschool parent, Hernandez de Carl was involved in hiring the library district’s new executive director, Will Blydenburgh.

When she was attacked by the press and local activists, I defended her. You can read about that HERE. While I do not regret supporting her appointment to the Library Board, it became clear over time that Hernandez de Carl had a basic misunderstanding of the role of the library board, especially in conjunction with the function and role of the library’s executive director.

Missouri statute directs the governing authority of a library district to a publicly-appointed board. The executive director is the employee of said board and is responsible for day-to-day functioning of the library district, as noted in statute. Further, the Missouri Secretary of State’s office outlines the legal authority of local library boards:

"The local Library Board of Trustees holds the legal authority to create, adopt, and change the policies of a public library district in Missouri. [1, 2]

Under Chapter 182 of the Revised Statutes of Missouri (RSMo), library districts operate under a system of local control. The board functions as an independent governing body to oversee the library's operations, finances, and rules. [1, 2, 3, 4]"

As detailed in other articles, previous Christian County library boards had given governance power over to administrative staff. Once given away, authority is difficult to take back. This issue is not just a problem in public libraries, but also in public schools and other local boards. Board positions become less about governance and more about rubber-stamping what administrative staff determine is best for a taxpayer-funded institution.

Perhaps Hernandez de Carl was not aware of the work involved, especially as relating to a library district that had given up some statutory authority to paid staff. She was appointed to the library board partly to make sure the library was following state and federal guidelines regarding the protection of minors. During her short tenure on the board of trustees, she was appointed to the policy subcommittee to help facilitate a coherent youth collection policy that protects children and provides a safe place for them to access age-appropriate books and materials.

The subcommittees were formed to provide a systematic approach to policy-making and to provide transparency. Subcommittee findings and recommendations would be shared with the library board, discussed, amended, and eventually voted upon in an open meeting. Instead of working within the parameters of the subcommittee (composed of two board members, at least one staff member, and the board attorney), Hernandez de Carl worked independently of the subcommittee with staff.

From: Hick Christian

 

She was replaced on the policy subcommittee by board member Kristin Roussell at the May 2026 board meeting. As a portion of her parting address, which she prefaced as “honest reflections,” Hernandez de Carl accused board members of blaming the executive director for legacy problems that have carried over. Indeed, she blamed other board members for delaying progress in the library.

Perhaps she does not remember that in the December 16, 2025 board meeting, she advocated for a pause on deciding policy. According to the Springfield Daily Citizen, "Treasurer John Garrity nominated Roberts to serve on the budget subcommittee and Mary Hernandez de Carl to the policy subcommittee. Hernandez de Carl, who advocated for a temporary “pause” to some subcommittee proceedings, voted in opposition to these changes.

“(Executive director Will Blydenburgh) has been here for three months. We still don’t have a strategic plan for what the next three years are going to look like, and you know, I think he needs, together with the library staff, to develop the strategic vision … and once that is established, we can see if it’s necessary for these meetings to continue to go on,” she said.

Policy development was paused for months. I am not aware of the development of a strategic vision for the library to date. This is a small example of why she seems to have a basic misunderstanding of the division of roles and responsibilities of a governing board versus administrative staff. Changing the culture of an institution is difficult. It requires vigilance and adherence to guidance that has been agreed upon by the governing authority—in this case the library board.

That decision has caused many months of delay in passing a policy that the board of trustees—not administrative staff--is statutorily tasked with formulating. The irony of accusing the library board as a whole of delaying progress while engaging in it herself, is just sour grapes.

It appears that when Hernandez de Carl did not get her way regarding how to handle policy development, she felt justified in attacking the board as a parting shot. Much of what she said was questionable, including equating the intention to protect children with a political ideology. Protection of children from harmful materials is not an ideological stance. It is a normal, natural human stance. Here is an interview with her from a year ago. 

 

It was as if she completely forgot why she got involved and was appointed in the first place. When a heinous book, Sibylline, was added to the teen collection in February of this year, Hernandez de Carl was quick to suggest the book should be formally challenged. The executive director was made aware of the book at that open meeting. 

The book is now listed in the Nixa branch under “Nixa New,” which does not really indicate a clear location designation. Why would it not be listed under the “Adult” designation? Is the “Nixa New” a display? If so, where is the display? Do minors have access? 

 

Of course Sibylline is not the only book pushed out to minors in libraries. There are hundreds of them, such as “Rookie on Love” by Tavi Gevinson. It’s in the Ozark teen section. Here is a review of that book by Florida high school English teacher and champion of protecting children, Vicki Baggett: 

 

In fact, three months ago, David Rice of Hick Christian, submitted 70 book challenges to the Library District. When I spoke with him in June, he still had not received an acknowledgment.

In her praise of the Library's new executive director, Hernandez de Carl did not mention the protection of children from harmful materials. She merely opined that the Christian County Library collection now provides a “thoughtful curation and respect for the interests of our community.” She completely failed to note that age-inappropriate books including those with sexual and transgender-driven themes are still being added to the collection, while hundreds of already-shelved books remain accessible to minors.

Hernandez de Carl accused the board of “micro-managing,” “second-guessing,” “unnecessary interference,” and “distrust.” Quite a litany of accusations. Where is the evidence to back them up? She presented none. And, she brought a political slant to her comments, noting that the “Libs” had seemingly abandoned the library perhaps as a way of giving the “Conservative Right” time destroy to themselves. NOTE: I will add the video of her comments when it becomes available.

Most people, whether Democrat or Republican, desire to protect children from harm. It is the iron grip of hard line Leftists (like the ALA) who are intent on indoctrinating children with age-inappropriate and sexually-driven materials.

Hernandez de Carl cannot have it both ways. Either the Library has made significant progress since the new executive director was hired as she averred at the beginning of her remarks, or her accusations of "unnecessary interference" and delayed progress against the Board are true. 

If she had truly believed what she said about the Board, Hernandez de Carl should have brought her accusations to the Board as the governing authority and laid out her arguments. Instead, she chose to publicly berate the Board. What she really did was expose her own inability to work as a team member with the Library Board.

An Open Letter to Nixa SABR

Dear Nixa SABR Students,

It has been brought to my attention that your group has commented on the recent appointment of Mary Hernandez de Carl to the Christian County Library Board of Trustees. See screenshots below:

From: Nixa SABR Facebook

While I understand you might be concerned about censorship and book banning, you can be assured that no books have been banned or censored. How can I be so sure of that? Well, let me link to a well-researched article written by Professor Rita Koganzon. Professor Koganzon earned a PhD in Government from Harvard and is currently an associate professor at the University of North Carolina.

In an interview with the Jack Miller Center, Koganzon gives a brief explanation of her article, "There Is No Such Thing as a Banned Book: Censorship, Authority, and the School Book Controversies of the 1970s."  

Koganzon says:

"In the article, I argue that the “right to read” (like most students’ rights, as it happens) is a mirage and a strategic invention by educators who wanted to evade parental and community oversight for their curricular choices – in this case, the books they selected for school curricula and school libraries. Appeals to the “right to read” have made our subsequent book removal and censorship debates impossible to resolve because they allow one side – mostly the side that wants to shelve controversial books that parents and boards disapprove of – to hide behind “student rights” instead of making the positive case for their selections and being accountable to the ordinary governance structure of schools for them.

These ordinary forms of democratic school governance – oversight by elected boards – have come to be maligned as censorship and “book banning,” which only empowers unelected and unrepresentative educators to govern local schools."

It should not be surprising to high school students such as yourselves, that you do not yet enjoy full rights of citizens who have attained majority age. For instance, you cannot drink alcohol in a restaurant, or buy cigarettes. You cannot legally access pornographic materials, and so on. These restrictions are reasonably imposed not only for your own good, but for the good of society.

The moral and emotional degradation of children is a scandal. Minor children are rightfully under the protection of their parents, and most parents abide by societal restrictions for them until such time as they are able to reasonably assume the rights of adulthood.

I recommend reading all of Professor Koganzon's article, which you can find HERE. Her article is 26 pages in length, but she makes a very persuasive argument against the political agenda of groups like the American Library Association, while properly defining "book banning" and "censorship." 

The article is scholarly in nature and well-referenced, so I hope you will read it with open minds and hearts, seeking to understand.

Regarding the Nixa SABR comments about the appointment of Mary Hernandez de Carl, I believe you are mistaken in several points. 

First, our county commission is composed of officials elected to represent the will of the voters. As our representatives, they are tasked with making sure our county library is governed in such a manner as carries out the will of the voters who elected them. Over the past two years, citizens have approached the commission with their concerns over the many age-inappropriate books in our county library system. 

Presiding Commissioner Lynn Morris held several town hall meetings in which citizens overwhelmingly requested a change at the library. In accordance with the will of the citizens, the commissioners appointed individuals whose perspective was in concert with the majority of the voting public.

That Sheila Michaels was not elected as Western Commissioner (she was a recent candidate), or appointed as a library trustee has more to do with the will of citizens than with a curriculum vitae. Qualifications of educational experience are not the only qualifications that tax-paying citizens seek when choosing candidates.

Hernandez de Carl is also well educated and more than qualified to serve as a trustee for the library district. Governing a Library District includes much more than librarian skills. Business management, people management, facilities management, financial management are all aspects of a growing library system. Those who have been appointed in the last year, including Hernandez de Carl bring decades of business experience among other qualifications. 

Additionally, Hernandez de Carl's dedication to the library and children has been amply proven over the last two years. That SABR would attack her with inflammatory words like "notoriously," and suggest she advocated widely for book removals or restrictions is a mischaracterization, and there are news articles that attest to dozens of parents fighting to properly curate books for the Nixa School Library. Hernandez de Carl spoke one time to the Nixa School Board.

Like most of the individuals fighting for parents' rights and the safety of children, Hernandez de Carl sought to compromise with the library staff and board. That the staff and former board refused to budge is the reason there is now a new board, but for one (Trustee Janis Hagen). It became clear there was a political agenda that took precedence over parents' rights and children's emotional and mental safety.

Perhaps you do not know yet, but kudos, awards, certificates, and publicity are often handed out as a way of legitimizing persons and ideas. While Michaels may have received several awards, these are meaningless to an electorate who is seeking to protect the rights of parents and the safety of children. Hernandez de Carl's advocacy of both made her a natural choice for a county commission that is responsive to the will of citizens.

From: Nixa SABR Facebook

 

Additionally, you may want to revisit taking a reporter's words as gospel, especially regarding Commissioner Morris' statement about flipping a coin. There is video HERE (the appointment part begins at the 1:00:00 mark) to which I hope you will give a listen. Morris was simply expressing that it was a difficult decision between his choice of Michaels and Hernandez de Carl. It was a bit of hyperbole, and most likely intended to acknowledge the competency of both candidates.

What should we notice here? Sheila Michaels did not receive one vote for the appointment. Commissioner Hosea Bilyeu's choice was candidate Ruth Maynard, not Michaels.

SABR is mistaken to make Hernandez de Carl's appointment an attack on Michaels, when it was Ruth Maynard who received one of three votes. Commissioner Morris addressed Michaels because she was present at the commission meeting when Hernandez de Carl was chosen by two of the three commissioners. He spoke well of her and indicated his decision was between her and Hernandez de Carl. Even if Morris had chosen Michaels, the vote would have had to be retaken as there would not have been a majority of any candidate.

Additionally, the reporter mischaracterized the words of Commissioner Morris, and you--the students of Nixa SABR--took as gospel her words without fact-checking. His kindness was used against him. Context matters. Perhaps this is the moment for SABR students to understand the nature of our media. Unfortunately, the press is mostly a propaganda endeavor, and often fails to represent a fair and balanced perspective.

In closing, I hope the students who comprise Nixa SABR will examine how and why they posted such sentiments on Facebook. If it came from emotion or from friendly relationships, it should be self-scrutinized for bias. You all are certainly entitled to publish your opinions--thank goodness for free speech--but informed opinions garner more respect.

Kind regards,

Gretchen Garrity